Track rail contactor



J. W. LWINGSTON TRACK RAIL CQNTACTOH Fei. l5, i938.

Original Filed 0G11. 14, 1955 HIS ATTORN EY Patented Feb. l5, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRACK RAIL CONTACTOR John W. Livingston, Forest Hills, Pa., assignor to The Union Switch & Signal Company, Swissvale, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania 3 Claims.

My invention relates to track rail contactors, and particularly to track rail contactors which are adapted to be mounted on a track rail for operation by the wheels of a passing car.

One object of my invention is to provide a track rail contactor of the type described which will operate to close the contact of the contactor when and only when the speed of a passing car exceeds a predetermined speed.

The present application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 693,615, led on October 14, 1933, Patent No. 2,077,339, granted April 13, 1937, for Apparatus for controlling railway track skates.

I will describe one form of contactor embodying my invention, andwill then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a view showing in side elevation one form of contactor embodying my invention, certain of the parts being broken away to better illustrate the construction of the remaining parts. Fig. 2 is an end view of the contactor shown in Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in both views.

Referring to the drawing, the reference character I designates one track rail of a railway track, which track rail is supported on crossties 5 in the usual manner. Mounted on one side of 0 the web of rail I is a supporting block I5, and

attached to this block is a laterally projecting headed pin I. Journalled on the pin I6 is an arm Il and a sleeve I8 which is secured at one end to the arm II. The arm I 'I is biased by means of a spring I9 to an upper position in which its left-hand end projects above the head of the rail I as shown, and is so disposed that each time a car wheel passes the contactor, the flange of the wheel will engage the arm and rotate it downwardly, thus rotating the sleeve in a counter-clockwise direction. The engaging surface of the arm I1 is curved as shown so that when the arm is rotated by engagement with a car wheel, the sleeve I8 will be rotated at a uni formly accelerated speed which depends upon the speed of the car. The limits of rotation of the arm are determined by a stop pin 2I which is secured to the supporting block I5 and which extends into an arcuate slot 22 provided in the arm II. The outer surface of the sleeve I8 is screw threaded as shown, and has mounted thereon an inertia member 23, the inside of which is provided with screw threads which cooperate with the screw threads on the sleeve. The screw 55 threads on the sleeve and in the inertia member are so arranged that if the inertia member is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, about the sleeve, it will move along the axis of the sleeve toward the rail I. A spring 24 surrounds the sleeve I8 between the arm I'I and the inertia member, and constantly biases the inertia member to an outer position on the sleeve in which position a stop pin 25 attached to the inertia member engages a stop lug 26 provided on a stop 27 which is secured to the pin I6. A ring-shaped cam 28.0f insulating material is secured to the inertia member on the side nearest the rail, and this cam cooperates with a roller 29k carried by a flexible contact finger 30. The Contact nger 30 is secured to an insulating block 3| which, in turn, is secured to the supporting block I5. Cooperating with the ringer 30 is a fixed contact nger 32 which is also secured to the insulating block 3l. rThe finger 30 is constantly biased to a position in which the roller 29 engages the cam 28, and the finger 32 is so disposed that when the inertia member 23 occupies the position to which it is biased by the spring 24, the contact finger 30 will be out of engagement with the contact finger 32.

With the contactor constructed in the manner just described, it will be apparent that if, when a car passes the contactor, the sleeve I8 is accelerated at a rate in excess of a predetermined rate which depends upon the proportioning of the parts, the inertia of the inertia member will prevent the inertia member from becoming accelerated as rapidly as the sleeve, and as a result, the inertia member will move inwardly along the sleeve in opposition to the bias of the spring 24, and will thus move the contact finger 30 into engagement with the contact nger 32, thereby closing the contact 3D-32. If, however, when a car passes the contactor, the sleeve I8 is accelerated at a rate which is less than said predetermined rate, the force exerted by spring 24 will be sulicient to overcome the inertia of the inertia member and keep it in the position in which the pin 25 engages the lug 26 of the stop member 21, and under these conditions the Contact 30-32 will remain open. As Was previously pointed out, the speed at which the sleeve I8 is accelerated when a car wheel passes the contactor is proportional to the speed of the car, and it follows that by properly proportioning the parts, the contact 30--32 may be made to become closed for all car speeds above a predetermined speed and to remain open for all car speeds below said predetermined speed.

One advantage of a contactor constructed in accordance with my invention is that it is rugged in construction.

Another advantage of a contactor constructed in accordance with my invention is that it is rigidly attached to the track rail, and cannot therefore creep under the influence of passing cars.

A further advantage of a contactor constructed in accordance with my invention is that since it is attached directly to the rail, it may be located at any desired position along the rail.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of contactor embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modications may be made therein Within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A track rail contacter comprising a supporting member attached to the rail, an arm mounted on said supporting member in such manner that each time a car wheel passes said contactor said arm will be rotated through a limited angle by engagement of the wheel with the arm, the surface of the arm which is engaged by the wheels being so designed that each time the arm is rotated it will be uniformly accelerated at a speed which depends upon the speed of the car, an inertia member operatively connected with said arm in such manner that when said arm is accelerated said inertia member will become accelerated with said arm if and only if the rate of acceleration of said arm is below a predetermined rate, a contact, and means controlled by said inertia member for operating said contact when said inertia member is accelerated at a slower rate than said arm.

2. A track rail contactor comprising a first member mounted on the track rail in such manner that each time a car Wheel passes said contactor said rst member will be rotated through a limited angle, the member being so designed that each time it is rotated by a wheel it will be uniformly accelerated at a rate which depends upon the speed of the car, an inertia member operatively connected with said first member in such manner that when said first member is accelerated said inertia member Will become accelerated with said first member if and only if the rate of acceleration of said first member is below a predetermined rate, a contact, and means controlled by said inertia member for operating said contact when said inertia member is accelerated at a slower rate than said rst member.

3. A track rail contacter comprising a supporting member attached to the side of a rail and provided with a laterally projecting headed pin, a sleeve journaled on said pin, an arm journaled on said pin and secured to said sleeve, means for biasing said arm to a position in which the upper surface of said arm projects above the surface of the rail in such manner that each time a car Wheel passes the contactor it will engage said arm and will rotate it through a limited angle, the engaging .surface of said arm being curved in such manner that when said arm is rotated by engagement with a car Wheel said sleeve will be l position on said first member in such manner that I when said rst member is accelerated said biasing means will hold said inertia member in said one position if and only if the rate of acceleration of said first member is below a predetermined rate, a. contact, and means for operating said contact when said inertia member is moved away from said one position.

JOHN W. LIVINGSTON. 

